The full scope of groups of teams to participate in the preliminary round of qualification games to the Elite 16 stage of the Basketball Africa League has been unveiled.
The games are to determine teams that progress further in the maiden edition of the joint NBA, FIBA Africa competition. The main event commences in March next year with the semifinal or Final Four games slated to be played at the recently built Kigali Arena in Rwanda.
Ghana’s Braves of Customs is in Group B with Abidjan Basketball Club from Côte d’Ivoire, ASPAC from Benin, AS Nigelec from Niger and National Port Authority – Pythons from Liberia.
The venue for the qualifiers is yet to be officially confirmed though Basketballghana.com gathers Benin’s capital, Cotonou will host the games.
Qualification games in Groups C and D have commenced in Libreville, Gabon and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania respectively.
Below is a full breakdown of the groups and schedule in the preliminary qualifiers:
Group A (Bamako, Oct 22-27): Groupement Sportif des Pétroliers (Algeria), Alnaser (Libya), AS Police (Mali) and Seydou Legacy Athletic Club SLAC (Guinea).
Group B (host TBD, Oct 29-Nov 3): Abidjan Basketball Club (Côte d’Ivoire), ASPAC (Benin), Braves of Customs (Ghana), AS Nigelec (Niger) and National Port Authority – Pythons (Liberia).
Group C (Libreville, Oct 15-20): Forces Armees et Police FAP Basketball (Cameroon), Les Abeilles (Central Africa), Manga (Gabon), Virgen Maria de Africa (Equatorial Guinea), and ASB Mazembe (Democratic Republic of Congo).
Group D (Dar es Salaam, Oct 15-20): Patriots BBC (Rwanda), Hawassa Basketball Club (Ethiopia), City Oilers (Uganda), JKT Basketball Club (Tanzania), Brave Hearts (Malawi), and Dynamo BBC (Burundi).
Group E (host TBD, Oct 22-27): Ferroviario de Maputo (Mozambique), Jozi Nuggets (Republic of South Africa), Mercenaries Basketball (Zimbabwe), Unza Pacers (Zambia), Dolphins (Botswana) and Lions Club (Namibia).
Group F (Antananarivo, Oct 29-Nov 3): Kenya Ports Authority (Kenya), Cobra Sport Club (South Sudan), Gendarmie Nationale Basket Club (Madagascar), Beau Vallon Heat (Mauritius Island) and representatives from Comores (Comoro Islands) and Seychelles (Seychelles Islands).
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
